


Masks

by apeppermint



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Comedy, F/M, Identity Reveal, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 01:37:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12570800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apeppermint/pseuds/apeppermint
Summary: Marinette knew something was wrong when she showed up at school one morning, and Adrien greeted her with a "Morning, milady."





	Masks

"Aw man, why'd she have to explode at the end, huh? Eugh." 

Cat Noir had never looked better. Or at least, in Ladybug's honest opinion.

A blue goo, the consistency of snot, ran down Cat Noir's front. In disgust, he swiped it off with both hands. The goo hit the pavement with a disgusting plop, and his left eye twitched in protest. The Eiffel Tower behind him was oozing with the same stuff, and so was everyone else in the vicinity, except Ladybug, who by standing in the eye of the storm, managed to avoid the radius of destruction. She giggled at his discomfort. He pouted.

"She did say that it would be the snail's day to shine." Ladybug grinned as she glanced over at the unconscious form of Miss Plourde, the bank teller. She hadn't been knocked out, only succumbed to an explosion of blue-snail goo at the purification of her akuma, and gone right to sleep where she'd stood. Everyone was back to normal around them, no longer transformed into little, gliding snails. Chloe was complaining about her hair out of Ladybug's line of sight. 

"Yeah, like that'd ever be the case. Not with this dangerous duo about." Hands on his hips, he cocked himself to the side and winked. The smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"You got that right," she said. She fixed her perfectly unaffected hair, as he tugged at a strand of gunk-thick blond and looked thoroughly sick. She giggled again.

"Pound it." She held up her fist. There was a strange pause, a strange pause of among many strange pauses all-day, not in the banter department, but in the reaction department. It was really unsettling. Sure, he'd basically been himself, not that weird, but Cat Noir had this way of masking all his feelings with his usual cockiness, so that Ladybug'd gotten used to looking a little harder to distinguish what really was up. And today—well, he'd seemed...

Tired?

Still, he stretched out a fist, and their bump hit at the same time as their miraculous’s alarms. 

"Ah, seriously?" He made the usual show of disappointment at their parting, but it was a little lackluster. Marinette felt a dim thrill of concern. How hadn't she noticed the dark rings around his eyes? "And I thought we'd have enough time to keep that promise. I heard you—you said, if we survived this, we'd get coffee." 

Ladybug couldn't help the roll of her eyes as he leaned in, eyebrows a-going. She pushed back against his shoulder and held out her other hand in the opposite direction. 

"How about a raincheck?" She extended her baton, but before she shot off to a nearby rooftop, she whispered her concerns in his ear (he went all stiff at that), "You okay, kitty-cat?"

"Never better, Bugaboo." The grin he gave her was wholehearted, she could tell. Even if his eyes were as wide as saucers.

"Okay. Be safe, all right?" And then she pulled away and into the air (a final, wispy "Always, for you," hanging in the air behind her), landing perfectly where she intended, and turning around to enjoy the show of him stumbling forward and almost falling onto his face.

"Hey! But what about the Eiffel Tower?" He pointed back at the aforementioned landmark, and the disgruntled crowd began to converge on him. Ladybug could almost see the sweat begin to oil out of his forehead as he stepped back. 

"We don't have time! They'll just have to figure it out! See you later!" And she swung off again until she found a perfectly-sized chimney to squat behind. She was almost too late, and was barely hidden by time the transformation had faded, and she was Marinette again. Tikki popped herself into existence, looking troubled.

"Why didn't you just land in the street?"

"Because, Tikki, they would've seen me. And I didn't have time." Marinette peered over the side of the roof and winced at how high up she was. She hated when she stranded herself like this. She was pretty graceful as Ladybug, but when she was Marinette, her poor motor control persisted, and she almost always almost broke a leg trying to descend from a rooftop in civilian form. 

"You would have had time if you weren't busy showing off." Tikki watched her, unimpressed, as she felt her way along the edges, looking for some kind of fire escape.

"Showing off? M—Me? No way. It was just banter. You know, the usual." Success! She spotted a fire escape covered in pigeon crap and barely attached to the side of the building. People were passing by on the street that the fire escape dropped onto, but they weren't paying attention to whatever was above them. She hoped that it would stay that way.

"You need to hurry, you know, Adrien and everyone will be looking for you soon." 

The entire class'd been sketching at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. They'd figure out she was missing soon enough. Hopefully everyone was okay. Hopefully Adrien was okay.

Her phone vibrated suddenly. Marinette squeaked as she yanked it from her purse and nearly dropped it over the side. She checked the text, trembling, as Tikki zoomed around to read it herself.

_Hey, are you okay? Where'd you go?_

It was Adrien. He rarely texted (there was no reason to, I mean, exchanging numbers didn't mean anything, Marinette had Nino's and—and every other guy in her class's, just in case, you know). Marinette's heart soared. She thought she'd pass out right there on the rooftop. 

"Oh my god, Tikki, I'm gonna have to frame it."

"If you say so," Tikki said. "But, um, shouldn't you answer?"

"Oh, right! Of course! I. am. okay. Just. got. separated. Be back at school in a bit. There!" She hit send, sighing out all her tension. Her cheeks were hurting, she was smiling so hard. 

"Isn't he the nicest guy, Tikki? Me and Cat Noir just defeated the Magnanimous Shell, and he's already wondering where I am. Oh my god." She pressed her cheeks and barely contained a squeal. 

"Yes, but I think there's more important things to worry about right now."

"But, hey, did you notice something off about Cat today? He seemed a little down. Do you think something happened?" She couldn't help but worry about him. Sure, he could get under her skin a bit, but he was her partner. If he wasn't going a hundred percent, then neither could their teamwork. She wondered, sometimes she did wonder, if something in his personal life was causing him problems.

"You should probably focus on getting down, Marinette. Come on!" Tikki fluttered into Marinette's vision and brought down her mood immediately. Right. Her stomach dropped, Adrien-bliss disappearing in one fell swoop.

Right.

\---

Though Marinette didn't know it at the time, it didn't take long for her to find out what was wrong with Chat Noir. It all began the moment she saw Adrien right outside the front doors of College Francoise-Dupont that next morning.

"Mornin' milady," he said, his elbow pressed into the door-frame, grinning up a storm. Despite the stream of classmates, it was only Marinette who was addressed, and she stopped, hard, at the foot of the stairs. She blinked twice. She shook her head. He winked once he had her attention.

Marinette glanced around her. It looked like the street in front of her school. There didn't seem to be any hidden cameras (as far as she could conceivably search for in a split-second).

People were staring, but with that distant disinterest that other kids at the school had when it came to her class's shenanigans. It felt uncomfortable in a real way. But then—no, she was obviously still in bed, exhausted from descending that rickety fire escape, because—

What?

She chuckled nervously and tried to pinch her arm without him seeing. It hurt.

"Uh, g—good morning, Adrien." She huddled her way up the stairs, taking two at a time. He withdrew from the doorframe the moment she was in reach and, with feline grace, scooped up her hand to kiss it. 

"Always pleasant when you're around. So, what's the plan for today? Showing up everybody in class, being too nice to Chlo, stuttering? I like the stutter, by the way. It's cute." He winked again. His eyes were very—he hadn't let go of her hand. There was something familiar…

No, it wasn't the time for that.

Milady?

"U—um, is there something—going on today? Are we, are you in a play?" She felt the entirety of her mouth rise with the most plastic smile she could manage. Something was very wrong. Super wrong. This wasn't like him at all. Was he—pranking her? No, that wasn't like Adrien (but then again, neither was this, and she knew everything about him). He was way too sweet for that kind of thing. And he would never be put up to something, not by Chloe, or Nino (not like Nino would go that far), or anybody. He was totally normal yesterday. What was going on?

"Something's strange, Marinette," she heard Tikki whisper from inside her purse. She had it slightly cracked because the weather was especially nice, and she hated to have Tikki cooped up all the time. Marinette glanced downward but returned her gaze when she realized Adrien had caught it. His expression didn't change from the lax confidence that had graced it since she'd shown up.

Weird.

"Nothin' more than usual. Just goin' about my daily life, playing good kitty. It blows." He shrugged his shoulders, and it was over. Marinette's fried brain returned to half-function, almost like it was an engine that was sputtering to life. Just like Cat Noir. Adrien's motor mouth ran on, even as Marinette was reeling, saying, "So, you wanna blow this popsicle stand, huh? I mean, we could make beautiful music together." 

His face drew especially close. He hummed. 

No, not Cat Noir. Like Cat Noir to the extreme.

"Haha, that's funny. I've totally seen that movie, yeah. Are you sure you're okay, Adrien?" Her face remained frozen as she glanced around. She took in the entire situation: the blank stares, the open space, Adrien's celebrity status. Her schoolmates would be talking about this later. It'd totally get around school. If Chloe heard about this...

"Better than I've ever been." His eyes caught the glare of the sun. They seemed especially green up close. His face gave off a feverish heat. She pressed a hand to his forehead out of pure impulse. His slow creep came to a hard stop.

"You're not feverish," Marinette mused. Gravity was trying to drag Adrien's mouth to the floor. She drew back, flinching, when she realized what she'd done. "Sorry, you're just—you're acting weird."

His face spasmed. Marinette had never seen his face look so sad. "Only love sick, Bugaboo."

He was going in for the kiss when Marinette went full Ladybug mode. She gripped his wrist and pulled him down the stairs.

"Woah!" he cried. He stumbled a bit as she forced him down the steps. When she reached the bottom, she surveyed her surroundings for a good hiding place—man, she was gonna be late, or they were gonna miss class altogether, and be in so much trouble, oh my gosh—but couldn't find anything that fit her standards. Behind the school would just have to work!

"Come on, over here," she hissed, taking off at a jog, making sure to maintain her grip.

"What, why? I mean, I don't mind being alone together but you gotta—" 

"Shut up!" She wasn't even paying attention to what she said. Her mind was entirely upon dodging around the school and behind the well-groomed bushes that made up the landscaping, her mind blank but for this focus. She went down into a Ladybug squat, listening hard for any sound of voices, but when she heard none, she brought her knees to her chest, her heart pounding, and tried to do the same of her elbows, before she realized that Adrien was still standing and refusing to budge.

"Oh, I see how it is. You're just playin' hard to get." She couldn't see his face, but he was surely doing something with his eyebrows.

"Get down here." She jerked his hand hard enough for him to lose his balance, and he toppled down next to her.

"Adrien," she swooped down on him, grabbing his wrist (his eyes stuck on her fist and he went still), "what'd you call me?"

"Hand," he said in a bare whisper.

"Adrien!"

"B—Bugaboo. Hand."

The recoil in Marinette's heart showed on her face. She let him go. He stared at his hand as if it'd been blessed. "Why are you talking like Cat Noir?"

"Hmm?" There was a split-second of confusion on his face, something a bit more Adrien, before it slipped off and was replaced by the Cat Noir-esque expression that didn't look as foreign on his face as she had expected it to. She didn't know what to think of that. "Are you into roleplay, my love? I aim to please, after all. Order me as you will."

"Marinette! He's under the control of an akuma!" Tikki burst out of Marinette's purse so violently that she shrieked and nearly threw herself into Adrien's (waiting) arms. She avoided that result by a good elbowing. She felt guilty about the "ugh" that followed.

"Tikki! You shouldn't—I mean, haha, I thought I saw—a tick?" She rubbed the back of her head, but her voice climbed high up the pitch ladder.

She half-expected Adrien to be looking at her funny, but he was instead staring at the spot wearing Tikki was hovering. His eyes narrowed. 

"What are you doing, Tikki?" Marinette turned her back to him and cupped her hand around her mouth, not sure how to react to his silence and seriousness.

"He hasn't been akumatized himself! I'm a hundred percent certain." Tikki fluttered about in her excitement, her wide eyes shining. "But something's definitely changed. It's kinda like he's been—"

"Wait, you're saying that Hawk Moth's akumatized somebody already? And that person's already got Adrien? How?" Marinette demanded. 

"I don't know. But it's different this time. The power they're using is really subtle. Like he's only be prodded along, not completely controlled. All I know is that it’s like someone's put down his defenses and amplified that part in him that everyone usually keeps under control."

"What are you talking about?" The words exploded from Marinette's lips before she could control them. "This isn't a part of Adrien at all! Adrien's sweet and nice and a great person. He would never act like this, ever. No, Tikki, I think you're off a bit." Marinette chewed her lip, her mind running a mile a minute. "No, I think someone's making him act like Cat Noir. I mean, only Cat Noir calls me Bugaboo. And Cat Noir would never reveal himself like this. I mean, it would be ridiculous to think he was Adrien, anyway. So, like, someone wants him to be Cat Noir. But why? And who? I mean, he couldn't have met that many people yet. And wouldn't Ms. Nathalie have noticed something was off if he was acting like this all the way to school?"

Marinette swept her arm out to indicate a suddenly sullen Adrien, who was glaring storm clouds their way. Weirdly enough, it actually did seem like he was staring at the both of them.

"You know, Marinette, he probably wasn't hitting on his father's assistant."

"Well, no, but if this akumatized person is making him act like that cat, then he definitely hit on somebody the moment he got out of the limo."

"Um, I don't think—"

"So, it had to be somebody in front of the school, before you or I got here. But that's so hard to track." She rubbed her chin in thought. "Tikki, I'm skipping school today. I know I'm gonna be in for some trouble, but this is more important. You don't think he'll remember this, right?" Marinette stared nervously at Adrien.

"Well, probably not. No one else who was akumatized or affected by someone akumatized really remembered what they did all that well. It'll probably be the same here. But, Marinette, we don't know—"

"Look, Tikki, I know Adrien, and this isn't him. He wouldn't ever act like this." Marinette touched her earrings. "I need to call him," she whispered to herself. She needed the King Flirt himself, but what if he was busy doing civilian things? She would have to wait until she got Adrien somewhere less conspicuous, all the same. But where? Would it be all right to take him back to her room? Her heart fluttered at the idea. But what if her parents heard her? I mean, the bakery might be busy during the day, but they'd notice footsteps overhead, right?

"Oh, so you're not much different, are you, sweetheart?" Marinette started out of her reverie and turned, wide-eyed, on Adrien. He picked out a twig from his hair and tossed it to the ground, scowling. "You don't think I'm capable of a mean word. Yeah, sure, live in that dream world. Eat it up." 

"A—Adrien?" Marinette couldn't believe her ears.

"Little Adrikins is always the nice guy. He’s nice to everybody. Nobody stops and thinks maybe he’s tired of being nice, or that he might wanna cut loose and have a little fun once and a while. Make some noise! No, they just like him because he’s perfect." He spat out “perfect” as if it was poisoned. Marinette’s ears were ringing. What was he saying? Nobody thought like that. Everybody knew he wasn’t perfect. Well, he _was_ perfect, but just the way he was, not because he was nice. She opened her mouth, but the way his sour expression changed a little when he looked at her took her breath away. It was a little sad, a little longing. Her heart went into overdrive. "But I like you Marinette," he said as he got to his feet. Marinette squeaked.

"Hey, hey, don't—!" Marinette scrambled to her feet. She was relieved no one was around, but she could still hear foot traffic on all sides of the building. It was a fairly open-to-the-public area. Anyone could walk through. 

"And your little bug, too. It's cute." He didn't look at her as he said it. _Bug?_ Tikki mouthed, gawping. Marinette shrugged. She wasn't _surprised_ , exactly, after all, if akumatized people knew about their miraculous’s, then it would make sense that those under their power would be able to recognize them, too. But her stomach dropping into her shoes wasn't about that. No, it was about what she thought him being able to see Tikki really meant. Someone must have figured out she was Ladybug. Somehow someone saw her transform. They were using Adrien to get to her. 

It seemed that Tikki understood. They would have to keep Adrien with them at all times until they figured out what to do. 

"So, where we headed?" He wiped dirt off his shirt in usual Cat Noir-fashion. It was eerily similar. Whoever this person was, they'd seen her partner enough times to have that detail down. 

But not the bitterness. Did this person think that Cat Noir was bitter?

Or that Adrien was?

"Um, my place, I guess." Marinette swallowed a wave of discomfort. She could feel the pressure of doubt that she always hated—that she didn't understand Adrien, or Cat Noir, at all. Maybe—maybe they were mad at the world. Maybe Adrien was keeping all this bottled up. 

_But I thought we were friends._

"Ooh," he said, a sly grin crawling up his face. "Then lead the way, milady. You know I'll always follow."

**Author's Note:**

> Man, this was supposed to be one damn chapter. Now it's gonna be three. I'm sorry if the characters are a little off. This is my first Ladybug fic!


End file.
